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One of eight Progressive Conservative MLAs who accompanied former premier Alison Redford on a government airplane to attend a Tory party fundraiser apologized...

Tory MLAs who flew with former premier Alison Redford on government flights for partisan purposes offered a multitude of explanations on Friday — with some apologizing, others claiming innocence and at least one caucus member saying Alberta’s auditor general got it wrong.

The responses came the same day the official Opposition demanded a public inquiry into “rampant misuse and abuse of tax dollars” in the former premier’s office.

On Friday, Calgary-Varsity MLA Donna Kennedy-Glans, who now sits as an independent, published a statement on her website apologizing for “inappropriate travel” on the government flight from Grande Prairie to Calgary on Oct. 25, 2012, to return from the PC party’s northern Alberta leader’s dinner.

Kennedy-Glans wrote that she “did not make sufficient enquiries about logistics of the flight that evening, after the dinner, from Grande Prairie to Calgary. I apologize for making assumptions about the integrity of the flight logistics,” according to her statement.

“I do understand the lines between politics and governance.”

Kennedy-Glans left the Tory caucus in spring to sit as an independent. Earlier this week, she asked to rejoin the PC government.

Calgary-West MLA Ken Hughes, who was also on the flight, said Friday he made the trip “in good faith, believing the plane was in Grande Prairie on government business.”

“Had I known, I would not have taken that flight, and I apologize for that,” said Hughes, a former cabinet minister in the Redford government.

The flight was one of three raised in Thursday’s tough auditor general report as instances where Redford used a government plane to attend partisan PC events.

Aside from the Grande Prairie trip, the other two flights highlighted by auditor general Merwan Saher include the PC provincial board meeting in Red Deer in June 2013, and a golf tournament in Lethbridge co-sponsored by the party in August 2013.

On Thursday, PC president Jim McCormick said the party will pay $6,500 to cover the full costs of the three flights.

The other PC MLAs who travelled to or from Grande Prairie for the fundraiser include cabinet members Wayne Drysdale, Fred Horne, Cal Dallas, ex-minister Christine Cusanelli, and MLAs Wayne Cao and Everett McDonald, according to government flight manifests.

McDonald, who represents Grande Prairie-Smoky MLA, said he doesn’t have anything to apologize for, after accompanying Redford, Horne and Drysdale from Edmonton to Grande Prairie on the government flight, as they were announcing progress on the community’s hospital project.

He suggested the auditor general’s report left out key details on the event that proved government business was taking place in the same community as the fundraising dinner that day.

“What I’m suggesting is it probably wasn’t documented properly. It would be quite normal for the health minister (Fred Horne) to announce in the community that type of funding arrangement.”

“The auditor general’s report says there was no media event there that day. I’m saying there was.”

McDonald, deputy chair of the legislative offices committee, said he’s requested through the chair that Saher appear at the next meeting to account for the “flaw,” and to further explain how the report was leaked to CBC in advance of its official release.

Dallas, minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations, wasn’t available on Friday. His spokesman said Dallas left the fundraiser in Grande Prairie and travelled to Calgary via the government plane to host the annual Consular Corps and Other Representatives briefing the next day.

“He flew on a government plane for government business,” said Derek Cummings.

While Cao, the Calgary-Fort MLA, said he believed the flight was appropriate at the time, he realizes now it wasn’t the right choice.

Fellow Calgary MLA Christine Cusanelli said she’d like to see more clarity around the rules governing aircraft use.

“Right now we need our policy to be far more black and white than it is,” said Cusanelli, who said she was also returning to Calgary to attend the consular corps event the next day.

But NDP MLA Deron Bilous said all eight MLAs who were on the flights should account for their actions and apologize.

“This points to the fact that initially, other parties were talking about how this was just Alison Redford. Or maybe pinning one minister. The reality of it is there are several cabinet ministers who were part of this coverup, or part of denying this use,” he said.

In Calgary, Wildrose Leader Danielle Smith said a full public inquiry is needed to get to the bottom of the spending scandal and how far problems extend into government departments beyond the premier’s office.

“You’ve got a PC party trying to pretend that it’s just the former premier who is the problem,” Smith said.

“For all we know, we still have problems going on because nobody is taking responsibility to make sure the policies are being followed.”

Smith credited Kennedy-Glans for apologizing Friday for taking the government fleet home from the partisan event in Grande Prairie in October 2012, but said other Tory MLAs on the same planes must do the same.

“There were multiple people implicated in the auditor general report. We haven’t seen an apology yet out of any of them,” said the Wildrose leader.

“Pay the money back ... and don’t do it again.”

Political scientist Duane Bratt from Mount Royal University noted the PC party felt the need to repay money for partisan flights, indicating the political damage from the report extends beyond the former premier and her staff.

“They are trying to say it was all about Redford, but the auditor general blew a big hole in that,” Bratt said.

*Redford has a residence and government office in Calgary, so AG concluded travel to Calgary was acceptable.

Source: Auditor General special report

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